Child Health and Development
Edited by Professor
iv. w. a. nnis, w.tJ.n,., ivi.u., r.iv.^.r. j. ana Churchill, Ltd., London. 1947. Pp. 364. 18s.
This work, a symposium by a number of specialists in child development and related subjects, provides a long felt want by all concerned with the-study of the health and growth of the “normal child “.
The Editor is Professor R. W. B. Ellis, who has recently been appointed to the Chair of Child Life and Health at Edinburgh. It is noteworthy that the late Dr R. D. Gillespie had a hand in planning the work. There is a useful introduction by Professor Ellis devoted to general considerations. Part I of the book deals with the child’s development in its broadest aspect. There are chapters dealing with physical growth and maturation, from conception to puberty.
A most fascinating chapter in this section is Sir Joseph Bancroft’s on the functional development of the foetus.
Of special interest to those concerned with mental health are the two chapters contributed by Miss Anna Freud. In the chapter on feeding, Miss Freud emphasizes the emotional significance of food and feeding to infant and child; she advocates a far less rigid feeding regime than is still all too commonly followed by a large proportion of mothers. Feeding is the first and most important inter-personal relationship of the infant; to be successful, full co-operation of mother and child is essential. The author traces the connection of the mother-child relationship to feeding. ” For the infant who is breast fed by’ the mother, food and mother are truly identical; the attitude to both rests on the same firm foundation of pleasurable experience.” The subsequent feeding problems which are sometimes met with, are usually the expression of the child’s unconscious hostile attitude to the mother. Oral pleasure as a stage in normal growth is dealt with, as well as the role that biting plays as an expression of hostility, aggression and destructiveness.
The chapter on emotional and instinctual development is a psycho-analytic account of these aspects of psychological growth from birth to adolescent. Miss Freud’s exposition is both lucid and concise; only a very few psycho-analytic terms are employed and these are always clearly explained. This part of the book serves as a most useful introduction to the dynamic study of human behaviour and will prove most valuable to both medical students and practitioners. Readers probably regret the lack of a bibliography.
Professor Penrose contributes an excellent chapter on intellectual development and the measurement of intelligence in childhood. The various types of tests employed for assessing intelligence are considered, and their merits and limitations discussed. It would have added to the interest of the section on distribution of mental capacity in the general population if mention had been made of Sir Cyril Burt’s work on differential fertility in relation to intelligence.
Part II of the work is devoted to the social aspects of child health and is in the main historical and expository. Subjects dealt with include chapters on the infant welfare movement, the school medical and dental services, nurseries and nursery schools. There is a useful chapter by Miss Leila Rendel on the care of the homeless child and another by Miss Eileen Younghusband on Juvenile Courts.
A review of the other part of the book would be out of place in this journal. Professor Ellis and his collaborators are to be congratulated on producing a work which is readable, comprehensive and stimulating. Professor Ellis, in his own approach to the subject, proves himself to be progressive and constructive with his vision constantly directed towards a future vast in promise and opportunity for progress and development. There are two appendices. The second on Voluntary Organizations will be found most helpful, though inclusion of the addresses of the various agencies mentioned would have added greatly to its value as a source of reference.
The radiographs throughout are excellent. Two or three of the photographic reproductions suffer from lack of clearer definition. The book deserves a more complete index. J.J.M.J.
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